Building block



Oct. 28, 1941. o; w. WILEY BUILDING BLOCK Filed June 29, 1939 INVENTORleg 5. Q. 1 AT TORNEY Patented Oct. 28, 1941 UNITED STATE 2,261,011BUILDING BLOCK Otis W. WileyyPort Allegany, Pa.,

Pittsburgh Corning Corporation,

County, Pa., a corpor assignor to Allegheny ation, of PennsylvaniaApplication June 29, 1939, Serial No. 281,815

1 2 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of block and it has particularrelation to internally screened hollow blocks.

One object of the'invention is to provide an improved hollow block ofvitreous or other fusible material and having light difiusing structuretherein.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved glass buildingblock having fusbile diffusing or screening medium disposed therein.

In one form of the invention, companion sections of fusible materialwhich can be cupped or otherwise shaped, are manufacturedlby moldingthem in conventional types of molds and their edges are subjected tofusing heat by means of suitable burners or other heating medium. Atransparent or translucent sheet of fusible material serving as aninterior partial or total screening medium is disposed between the edgesof the sections which are then brought together while remaining atfusing temperature and the edges of the sections,-together with thesheet are fused into an integral or bonded seam or connection. Thescreen remains traversing the interior of the block thus formed andprovides for difiusing or screening light rays, or decorating theinterior portions of the block.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a pair of block sections held inan apparatus for assembling them, portions of the apparatus being shownin cross section; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a completed hollowblock; Fig. 3 is a vertical section of another form of block; Fig. 4 isa plan of a sheet of screening material employed in making the blocks;and Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a building block similar to thatshown in Fig. 2, and in which another form of screenin is employed.

In practicing the invention, a pair of cupshaped block sections Ill andII which are assembled to form a hollow block l2, are molded orotherwise formed in a conventional manner and their rims r marginaledges l4 and I are adapted to be aligned in opposed registeringrelation. The lower section II is centered in a predetermined positionby means of raised abutments I1 rigidly mounted upon a supportingplatform 20 upon which the lower section rests.

The upper block section In is supported by means of a holder 22 havingresilient hooked portions 23 which engage corners of the upper blocksection. This holder is rigidly mounted upon the lower end of a plunger25 which includes a piston 26 carried upon its upper end. A suitablefluid containing cylinder 21 receives the piston slidably therein and ismounted upon an-overhead support 28. Fluid under pressure can besupplied into the cylinder alternately on opposite sides of the pistonthrough conduits 30 and 3| for the purpose of vertically operating theplunger and'thereby bringing the edges or rims l4 and I5 together inregistering relation. I

It is to be understood that this apparatus is merely an illustrativeexample and that other apparatus can be employed for bringin thesections H) and II together; for example, an apparatus such as the typeshown in United States Patent No. 2,034,925, issued March 24, 1936.

A gas supplying conduit 35 having a swivel connection 36 therein issupported upon the platform 20 and is provided with a gas burner 31 inwhicha series of openings 38 are distributed along areas facing theareas of the opposed rims l4 and I 5 of the block sections. The burnersare so arranged that jets of flame can be played upon the rims ofboth'sections until they are heated to fusing temperature. The burnercan then be swung about the swivel connection 36 away from the blocksections to the broken line position shown in Fig. 1. Then a screen orsheet of fusible material 40, such as glass wool, a series of vitreousstrands, glass fabric, or the like, is placed between the fusing rims l4and I5. This screen can be in the form of matted or woven fibers, or thefibers can be treated with a binder to cause them to adhere to oneanother, or they may be subjected to partial preliminary fusing to holdthem in m'atted form. As shown in Fig. 1, the screen can be placed andsupported upon the lower rim l5, and the plunger is then operated topress the rims l4 and I5 toward each other against the screen which isfused therebetween. During this operation the edges of the screens areburned off about the outer edges of the rims and form with the latter arelatively uniform seam 42 (Fig. 2) which extends peripherally aroundthe block to define the junction of the sections 14 and I5 and toprovide the completed hollow block l2.

The supply of fluid through the conduits 30 and 3| can be so controlledas to arrest movement of the upper section I I just prior to contact ofthe rims and thus permit heated air from the interior of the sections toescape and to prevent building up pressure in the entrapped air whichexpands when subjected to heat. If the rims were brought togetherrapidly, the heating and expanding air would not be permitted to escapesufficiently fast to prevent objectionable pressure. If desired the edgeof one of the rims l4 and Hi can be notched to insure proper vent ing ofair which might otherwise be entrapped under pressure between thesections until the edges are fully pressed against each other, at thecompletion of which the notch is closed.

If the screen 40 were subjected to fusing temperature under ordinaryconditions, it should be expected that marring thereof would result, butexperiments have shown that the screen 40 is not marred by the method ofoperation described Vention is not so limited, but that various changesand that a clear and unmarred screen or partition is fused and held inthe seam 42 in proper position transversely of the chamber inside thehollow block. 1 i

Under certain conditions, it may be desirable to assemble the screendirectly with only one of the sections of the block I2. For example, one

section can be omitted and the screen fused to the rim I4 to provide afibrous wallon one side of the single section block. This type ofassembly can be used as a unit or assembled with like blocks to formunits having partitions.

In the form of block shown in Fig. 3, the assembly of sections 52 and 53can be accomplished in substantially the same manner as'that describedabove. In this arrangement only one hollow section 52 is provided andthe section 53 can be composed of a flat'plate or slab which has itsmarginal 0r rim portions 54 fused together with the fibrous screen 55disposed upon marginal rim portions 56 of the section 52 to form anintegral peripheral seam 57 extending entirely around the block. 1

Referring to Fig. 5, a fusible block l2 comprises cupped sections formedin the same manner as those shown in Figs. 1 and 2. However, the screenor partition 40 shown in Fig. 5 is in the form of a fusible fabric, orplurality of interwoven strands 60 of fusible or vitreous material. Itis to be understood that the matter of whether the weave of the fabricis relatively open or fine is one of can be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A building block comprising a hollow, insulating, light transmittingcell, having opposed light penetratable faces rigidly connected by acontinuous rim forming a hermetically sealed air pocket, a series ofspaced strands, and a second series of spaced strands transverselycontacting the first series of strands and forming therewith a screenpermanently confined within said block and spaced from the interiorsurface of at least one face of the block, each strand comprising glassfibers solidified with the rim of the block around the edges of thescreen formed by said strands. V

2. A building block comprising a hollow, insulating, light transmittingcell, having opposed light penetratable faces rigidly connected by acontinuous rim forming a hermetically sealed air pocket, a series ofspaced strands of one color, and a second series of spaced strands of adifferent color interwoven with the first series of strands and formingtherewith a screen permanently confined within said block and spacedfrom the interior surface of at least one face of the block, each strandcomprising glass fibers solidified with the rim of the block around theedges of the'screen formed by said strands.

OTI S W. WILEY.

